A Sarnia-area woman who’s gone through treatment for Lyme disease says Canada isn’t offering enough when it comes to detection and long-term treatment.

“That is the biggest thing with Lyme patients is just having the better testing,” said Roanne Martin. “Being able to know what you’re up against and then knowing how to deal with it so the doctors can deal with it.”

Canada uses a two-tiered system that produces false negatives, she said, whereas more robust testing is available in places like the United States.

Canada also has a lack of “Lyme-literate” doctors, she said, and many chronic sufferers like her have gone across the border for treatment, paying thousands.

Martin said months of a potent antibiotic via a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) line eventually helped rid her of flu-like symptoms, headaches and others ailments brought on by the bacterial infection spread through bites from blacklegged ticks. She was first diagnosed here, she said, in 2015 after fainting and suffering a seizure.

“Very fortunate to get that diagnosis,” she said.

Damage from enduring the disease persists in her elbows and other joints, she said, and she’s gone from full-time work as a court officer with the OPP to part-time work in a law office.

She’s hoping to raise awareness about how people can protect themselves from Lyme disease, and call attention to the deficiencies in Canada’s system, she said.

Last fall the federal government announced $4 million for a Pan-Canadian Research Network on the disease to generate knowledge and improve diagnosis and treatment.

An additional $1.25 million went to projects increasing disease surveillance and disease awareness.

A Lyme disease prevention toolkit is one of the positive outcomes, Martin said.

What’s missing is better detection of the disease, she said.

Health Canada says the current diagnostic guidelines meet international standards followed by public health authorities in the United States and Europe.

There is concern, Health Canada says, private, for-profit clinics may not use properly validated tests or recommended standards for interpreting test results.

Treatment for early Lyme disease is antibiotics, but people are being missed, said Sarnia-Lambton MP Marilyn Gladu.

“Basically they’re not being properly tested and these diseases, if left untreated, basically shut down your immune system and your various organs.”

Opposition parties are pushing for changes to the federal framework for Lyme disease to address its shortcomings, she said.

Meanwhile tick populations in Ontario have continued to rise, said Lori Lucas, with Lambton Public Health.

More than 220 were submitted to public health for testing last year, she said. Thirty were blacklegged. None carried Lyme-causing bacteria, though there was one case of Lyme locally believed to be travel related.

Wearing insect spray, covering up in wooded areas and tall grass, and wearing light-coloured clothing are all preventative measures.

“The piece we try to hammer home the most is doing those tick checks,” Lucas said, noting some of the other precautions aren’t always practical.

Public health also did tick drags last fall around Courtright and Bright’s Grove, finding none, she said.

“It doesn’t mean that they’re not there, it’s just we didn’t happen to find any ticks the times we were there.”

Plans are to check the areas around Pinery Provincial Park – an estimated risk area identified by Ontario Public Health – every two years to see if ticks carrying the Lyme vector are on the rise, she said.

“It’s not necessary to go every year because we know we’re seeing ticks.”